bad boo boo with a handgun

[Bitmap]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425302,00.html

The story is printed below.

I just don't know what to say about this, but I'll try to think of a couple of things.

1. Don't leave your guns out where your kids can get at them.

2. If you have to warn your kid not to touch your gun you should probably put it up.

3. If you tell your kid "Don't touch that" you should take the time to make sure the kid follows your orders. I have a problem with "parents" that tell their kids to do something or stop doing something and then don't make the kid mind them.

4. I wonder if the situation was slightly different and the mom had said "don't run with those scissors" or "don't touch Daddy's perscription" or "don't drink the Draino" would the parents still be facing charges?

I guess the mother was right about the bad boo boos but she didn't care enough to actually prevent it.

Mother Warned 2-Year-Old Son Moments Before He Shot Himself in Eye

Friday , September 19, 2008

AP
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JEWETT CITY, Conn. —
Court documents show that moments before a Jewett City toddler fatally shot himself, his mother warned him not to touch his father's gun because of the "bad boo boos" it could cause.

An arrest affidavit details how 2-year-old Wyatt Matteau grabbed the gun from a nightstand and shot himself in the eye while his mother was in the bathroom.

On the morning of Aug. 28, Rebecca Matteau was watching TV with her son and her 3-month-old daughter, just minutes before the shooting. The children's father was sleeping in the bedroom.

Minutes later the boy shot himself, and he died less than two hours later.

The parents have been arrested on charges including risk of injury to a minor and criminally negligent storage of a firearm.

 

[WSM MAGNUM]

STUPID IDIOT PARENTS. I hope the parents will be sleeping and sitting on the toilet in a jail cell for the rest of their lives.

 

[brickeyee]

Leaving a firearm within the reach of a child is just stupid.

 

[Hawg]

I grew up with guns all over the house. Propped up in corners, laying on tables, in drawers etc. I knew better than to touch one.

 

[jephthai]

Wow. My wife and I have a 2-year old. My family and I are incredibly safety conscious -- we take all kinds of things away from him. I CAN NOT IMAGINE this situation.

Bitmap's #3 is completely right. Like you don't know that there's a difference betwen, "Don't touch that crayon" and "Don't touch that firearm". What kind of problem is that when such basic risk analysis is totally lacking?

I feel sorry for those in the situation. As Hawg mentioned, there are lots of families that actually do this, and most escape tragedy. But why not make it IMPOSSIBLE?

-Jephthai-

 

[Alleykat]

Asserting that one knew better than to do anything @ 2-yrs-old is simply revisionist memory of one's ability to do anything @ 2-yrs-old. Plain ol' horsehockey!

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Jeez......... I was raised around firearms as well but a 2 year old isn't capable of understanding what a firearm can do. It's right to charge the parents in this terrible case.

 

[fastforty]

Here in Kali , they can't arrest parents for 7 days, some sort of grievance period.

calfornia penal code section 12035(f) [Also, section 12036(g)]
(f) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the
parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the
result of an accidental shooting, no arrest of the person for the
alleged violation of this section shall occur until at least seven
days after the date upon which the accidental shooting occurred.

In addition, section 12035(e) & 12036(f):

(f) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the
parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the
result of an accidental shooting, the district attorney shall
consider, among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on
the person alleged to have violated this section when deciding
whether to prosecute the alleged violation.

Just another example of how screwed up laws are here on the Left Coast

 

[Fremmer]

So what will that accomplish?

 

[Playboypenguin]

The moral is to not leave firearms unattended around children...period. I do not care how mature or obedient you think they are.

 

[rogertc1]

PBP how many children do you have?
My 3 kids now all grown and left the nest had been brought up with firearms. I took them out shooting at 4 yrs. Never had an issue.
I used to ride my bike to the Ikes Club at the edge of town with a 1917 .45 in my holster when I was 13 and plink.
It is all in the training.

 

[Playboypenguin]

Not having children does not preclude one from having common sense.

I happen to have my masters is psychology and I will tell you children are unpredictable no matter what you want to think. I worked for CPS for years and do you know how many times I heard the same exact story from the parents of children that disobeyed and came to harm from a firearm? All of them.

Children are not adults and do not process information or reason the same way...no amount of "training" will change that.

Is it really worth the risk?

 

[BurkGlocker]

I have three children in my house, two girls and a boy. The girls I know that I dont have to worry about them at all, but my 3 Year old son, I worry about him with the guns, especially when I am cleaning them and he comes out into the living room and starts saying, "Cooool! Thass cooool Daddy! Woooooow!...." Thats exactly why my guns stay locked up except at night while we're sleeping, but even then he cant get to it unless he reaches under my pillow, and I am a VERY light sleeper...

 

[Hawg]

Children are not adults and do not process information or reason the same way...no amount of "training" will change that.

Fear of a belt will. My dad gave me a Browning .22 when I was three and he'd take me out to shoot but he also told me if I ever touched it or any other gun without his say so I'd get the belt.

 

[Playboypenguin]

Fear of a belt will.

No, it won't. You cannot alter the physiological makeup of a human childs brain with simple threats of violence. Nor does anecdotal evidence alter the reality of the dangers of mixing children and firearms...especially handguns.

How many times have your kids misbehaved and then said "I do not know" when you ask why? Truth be told, they really do not know why.

Like I said before...is it worth the risk?

 

[Slopemeno]

Theres a REASON they can't vote, buy liquor, make a contract, join the military, drive a car, and so on and on at that age.

With children in the home, there are only two places for a firearm: ON you, or secured.

 

[RedneckFur]

Fear of a belt will.

No, it won't. You cannot alter the physiological makeup of a human childs brain with simple threats of violence.

I dont have a masters degree in phycology, but my backside begs to differ
Just leave the belt in plain view as a reminder to what happens when you disobey.

 

[Playboypenguin]

That argument is not even logical in it's practice. If you children did everything you told them you would have no need to punish them. The very fact that they have had to be punished multiple times means they do not always do as told.

Is anyone here going to pretend their children never disobey or make a mistake or that they never did anything they knew they were not supposed to do when they were children. Children learn not to get caught before they learn to understand the repercussions of their actions.

 

[Hawg]

Believe you me if my dad told you not to do something you didn't do it. Not unless you wanted a severe butt whippin. I got butt whippins for doing stuff that I wasn't specifically told not to do but ought to have known better(as he put it), not for doing stuff I was told not to do.

 

[Playboypenguin]

Believe you me if my dad told you not to do something you didn't do it. Not unless you wanted a severe butt whippin. I got butt whippins for doing stuff that I wasn't specifically told not to do but ought to have known better(as he put it), not for doing stuff I was told not to do.

Oh c'mon...am I supposed to believe you never did anything you were told not to do?...and that your parents just "whipped" you for things they never told you about one way or the other? They just beat you for things they assumed you should know as a small child?

Like I said, every singe case I read or was involved in while with CPS that involved a child being injured with a firearm had the same story from the parent...."We taught them not to bother it and their brothers/sisters never did."